18 ~ Birch syrup auction result
The results are in of the first Bird in the Bush auction! Several bids were received for the two jars of syrup, and at the top, outpacing the field, the Secretariat of birch syrup bidders, in first place with a bid of $151.51, is Howard, whom you met in a recent post (https://www.birdinthebush.net/blog/16-dark-elixir-and-the-largesse-of-may). Howard added some kind words to his offer, writing that his stratospherically generous bid was his way “of contributing to the kind of practical, earth based writing that is so important to a world going crazy.” Thank you, Howard.
Winner of the second jar, with a bid of $51, is Jeff, a family friend I’ve known since I was eight. Jeff’s winning bid comes with an added bennie; he’s a private pilot, and wrote that his offer, if successful, was contingent on me delivering the syrup to my local airport (Iowa County Airport in Mineral Point). Not only do I gain a portrait of Grant and change, I get a fly-in visit from Jeff (beats the hell out of Arlo Guthrie’s option in “Alice’s Restaurant”: “I didn’t get nothin’. I had to pay $50 and pick up the garbage.”)
Within inches of Jeff was a bid of $50 from my friends Willi and Qitas, owners of nearby Bleu Mont Dairy. It’s a special thing they’ve got going (check out: https://www.sciencefriday.com/articles/the-mad-scientist-and-his-cave-aged-cheddar/), and their offer was $50 worth of cheese for my larder. Since their bid was so close to Jeff’s, clustered with his in second place (and what idiot would let slip a near chance for some Bleu Mont cheese??), I contacted Willi and Qitas and offered to add a third jar of the black gold to the auction, one more second-place jar, and to my delight they accepted. So sign me up, with much gratitude(!), for $50 of their sublime Bandaged Cheddar.
Congratulations, winners! Many thanks to all who participated, and to those who followed along. I love this stuff - the myriad and unexpected ways that living closer to the world, diving down in deeper communion with it, can spin off closer connections up here. And what a good time this is for more connection, however we find it.
Speaking of syrup, last week I did another round of trout fishing near Viroqua and visits to Amish greenhouses (and bakeries!) in that area.
Spring in Amish country
I stopped at one Amish farm with a sign that advertised maple sugaring equipment and supplies. I was curious to see what they had, and maybe fill some equipment gaps before next sugaring season. There I met a nice young guy named Rudi, and in his front yard the biggest maple tree I’ve ever seen. It was close to 4 feet (1.2 m) in diameter. Rudi said that one or two larger ones live down in the woods where he and his relatives tap each spring. His grandfather, Emmanuel, has been tapping and making syrup from these large trees for nearly 50 years, with no visible detriment to the trees. One grandfather feeding another.
And now, Rudi probably taps the grandsons of these maple elders. I take pleasure in that thought, in these generations of trees and people moving together. It also highlights the good in finding a place, choosing a place, any place (there are stories in every square foot of the Earth), and getting to know it well, over a long time. In our fast-paced world, the gifts of sustained, fond attention still reign supreme.
In one of the next posts I’ll share an update on that woodland miracle of May, that star of the forager’s larder, morels. Until then, may this find you well, and connected in ways large and small.
The fundamental illusion we all have to overcome, is the illusion of separateness. – Chuck Chamberlain